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Rikke
Rikke is The Dogman’s fit-prone daughter, blessed, or perhaps cursed, with the Long Eye. She is a major point-of-view character in The Age of Madness Trilogy. She first appears in A Little Hatred. Appearance Rikke has a wide expressive face, a wild tangle of red-brown hair, and excellent teeth''A Little Hatred, Part I, The Bigger They Are. Her most distinctive feature is her eyes, huge and pale and almost overly-expressive. She has a thick gold ring through her freckled nose, “''it keeps me tethered”, and a cross of dark paint over her left eye, “''a goodly mark much loved by the moon''”. She wears a rattling mass of beads, charms and talismans around her neck, in addition to a well-bitten dowel for her fits''A Little Hatred, Part III, Good Times. Personality Rikke has grown up a little coddled, the only child of a powerful chief, with no mother, and a hall full of old warriors doting upon her. She lacks confidence in herself, but others – her father, Isern-i-Phail, and Caul Shivers – see hidden depths inside her. There are two mentors in her life, pulling her in opposite directions; the mad-hillwoman Isern tells her to “''make of her heart a stone” to get anything done, and The Dogman who wants her to stay a good person so she can get the right things done. Rikke has been blessed, or perhaps cursed, with the gift of the Long Eye, which enables her to see visions of the future, varying from crystal-clear flashes to others that are highly symbolic. These are accompanied by violent fits, crippling headaches, throbbing in her so-called Long Eye, and loss of control of her bowels. History Rikke was born and raised in Uffrith, in the hall of her father, the DogmanA Little Hatred, Part I, Blessings and Curses. Leo dan Brock was fostered in Uffrith in his youth, and the pair were close, though he mocked her fits until she knocked him down and sat on him''A Little Hatred, Part I, The Bigger They Are. Rikke herself spent a year in Ostenhorm, and had a Union tutorA Little Hatred, Part I, Guilt Is a Luxury. She was also close with Caul Shivers, perhaps the most feared man in The North, but she was never frightened of him growing upA Little Hatred, Part II, Surprises. ''A Little Hatred Rikke’s story begins recovering from one of her fits, somewhere outside Uffrith. The hillwoman Isern-i-Phail has taken Rikke under-her-wing to help control her fits and interpret her visions. None of these visions make much sense, but one of Uffrith burning makes her worry for her father. As the two women head for home, they encounter three of Stour Nightfall’s scouts in the woods and kill them. Then emerging from the forest, they see Uffrith is indeed burning, just like in her vision. Isern is typically pragmatic; please to have conclusive proof that Rikke does indeed have the Long Eye''A Little Hatred, Part I, Blessings and Curses. With her characteristic tough love, Isern leads Rikke south towards The Dogman’s folk and their Union allies. While trying to sneak past the marauding Northmen, the two women are forced to hide beneath a root-riddled overhang in an icy river, and hear three Northmen discussing the search for Rikke; Jonas Clover, Wonderful, and Stour Nightfall himself. Black Calder wants to use The Dogman’s daughter as a hostage in negotiations, but Stour has all sorts of unpleasantness in mind for her. Rather than being afraid, however, Stour's revelation only makes Rikke boil with furyA Little Hatred, Part I, Break What They Love. Rikke and Isern are now being hunted, chased through the forest by Northmen with dogs. They find their way blocked by a narrow ravine, which Isern jumps with ease, but Rikke crashes into the lip and begins to slide over the edge. Isern drags her back from the fall, but gets an arrow in the leg in the process. Rikke sees another arrow coming straight at them, but she sees it with the Long Eye. Knowing everything about the arrow, she finds it easy to just nudges it safely off course. Having doubting herself, Rikke can no longer deny she has the Long Eye. Slowed by the hillwoman’s injury, she soon hear someone approaching and prepares to fight. To her delight Caul Shivers steps into the clearing, his sword wet with blood from killing their pursuers. He ignobly hauls the wounded hillwoman over his shoulder, and begins to lead them towards The Dogman’s campA Little Hatred, Part I, Knowing the Arrow . In the camp, Rikke and Isern stop to admire two shirtless men training in a good old fistfight. As the crowd shout the winners name, Rikke struts over to Leo dan Brock, and catches her childhood friend in a hug. That night Rikke gets drunk, whilst her father gives a speech at a feast. He doesn’t know if he has the bones for yet another fight, but she reassures him that he's done plenty good besides raising her. Meanwhile, he cautions her against making of her heart a stone and tells her he likes her heart how it is. Later, Rikke finds Leo being lectured by his mother. After a flirtatious exchange Rikke takes Leo outside, kisses him, and then drags him into a barn for a roll in the strawA Little Hatred, Part II, Surprises . Rikke and Leo are now lovers, though she’s well aware he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. She can’t resist mocking him for his petulance at his mother's strategy, his resentment that Prince Orso might steal the glory, and his very tight-knit group of male friends. One morning Rikke has one of her fits. When Isern helps bring her round, this time the Long Eye has shown her a lion and a wolf fighting in a circle, and, though the wolf had the best of it, the lion was the winner. Leo is intrigued by this last predictionA Little Hatred, Part II, The Lion and the Wolf . Another morning, they are interrupted by Jurand, with news that a Knights Herald has arrived in the camp. At a war council, Finree dan Brock announces that, due to the uprising in Valbeck, Orso and his regiment won't be coming for weeks. The only person who looks happy is Leo, who realises that they therefore stand alone against Stour Nightfall and Black CalderA Little Hatred, Part II, Ugly Business . After weeks of retreating, Finree and The Dogman decide to make a stand in a narrow valley with an ancient-looking bridge, with Dogman's folk hiding in a ruined fortress on a hilltopA Little Hatred, Part II, Young Men's Folly . On the day of the battle, Rikke sees a tall pale man slip from the forest, with dozens more men behind him. No one else can see them, Rikke realises her Long Eye is open. She goes to warn her father, who is reluctant to commit men to search the forest. Shivers vouches for Rikke, however, and thus the Dogman permits him to take a few Carls and search the forestA Little Hatred, Part II, The Battle of Red Hill . Down in the valley, the battle between the Union and Nightfall's Northmen commences. The Dogman is pleased that his plan is working. However, his joy is short-lived as Shivers comes bursting from the trees, announcing that Black Calder is advancing on their position from the forest. Rikke sees the tall pale man again, just as she had with the Long Eye a few moments earlier. Calder's men press in on every side and battle commences, preventing the Dogman from sending his men down into the valley against Nightfall as originally planned. A shield wall is formed but one of Calder's men breaks through and charges at Rikke. She stabs him with a knife and he is finished off by Isern. Rikke loses control of the Long Eye and starts seeing ghosts of men fighting amongst the battleA Little Hatred'', Part II, The Battle of Red Hill . The battle ends in a stalemate, with Leo and Stour agreeing to settle the matter in a duel in the circle. Leo’s mother tries to get Rikke to talk Leo out of the duel, but Rikke foresees that it’s hopeless. The Knights Herald that she's been expecting eventually arrives, and announces that the king has confirmed Leo as Lord Governor. There’s nothing that can change Leo’s mind now. Instead, Rikke bolsters his courage for the fight, convincing him she has seen the future with the Long Eye, and the lion beats the wolf. As the duel begins, it quickly becomes apparent to everyone that Great Wolf is stronger, faster, and a better swordsman, but he decided to toy with him and show off. In desperation, Rikke tries to force the Long Eye open, and, remarkably, it works. Seeing what will happen, she screams at Leo to go low, and he surprises Stour, catching him in the thigh sending him tumbling. To his own shock, Leo finds himself with his enemy at his mercy, but opts to spare his life. Blinded by desire for vengeance on Stour Nightfall, Rikke refuses to visit Leo as he convalesces, and when the pair do eventually meet, they part on sour terms. Rikke seek comfort from her father. Instead The Dogman announces that she’s going to Adua, to represent the Protectorate in any post-war deals. Rikke arrives in Adua, dumbfounded by the size of the city. Leo is on the same ship, but she studiously avoids even looking at him. She also meets Bayaz, who seems interested in her Long Eye. At a great party in the palace, Rikke feeling completely out of place. Things however improve when Savine dan Glokta introduces herself. The two women get on famously, and end up swapping necklaces; Rikke’s Northern runes, for Savine’s gold and emeralds. But when Savine later starts flirting with Leo, Rikke seeks comfort with someone as miserable as she is; Prince Orso. They get on well, both disdaining the other party-guests, and their former lovers especially. In the end, Orso invites Rikke for a stroll in the gardens, via his bedroom. Rikke wakes the next morning in one of the palace’s massive bedrooms. Their bout of intense north-south diplomacy is nevertheless interrupted by Queen Terez, who arrives to get her son ready for the triumph. Rikke rides in the triumph with the other foreign representatives. Towards the end, she topples from her horse from one of her fits. This vision showed an old chieftain dead with men gathered about the body, all wondering what they can get from it. This makes her worry for her father, and she immediately make plans to return to the North. Rikke's Visions Illustrations 69834930_2633902316653646_6289476876742035761_n.jpg rikke.png Rikke-stacy.jpg|Rikke by Stacy knightofmoon98 tumblr_pz9y62bHF81vg5n5oo1_500.jpg|Rikke by heliaofbuda tumblr_pyb8suexJT1rj2gq2o2_r1_500.png|Rikke in profile by autoapocrypha References Category:POV characters Category:Characters Category:Northmen